"The Cataract of Lodore" is a poem written in 1820 by the English poet Robert Southey[1] which describes the Lodore Falls on the Watendlath Beck just above Derwent Water in Cumbria, England. The poem is a masterpiece of onomatopoeia, employing some of the most clever and evocative language ever used to describe a natural feature. When seen in its entire form, the body of the poem does look like a waterfall.
The waterfall, a must for Victorian tourists staying at Keswick, is formed by the beck from Watendlath Tarn cascading over huge boulders for a distance of some 100 feet. The main drop of the falls is about 28 metres, or 90 feet. Although the falls are spectacular after periods of heavy rain, they dry to a trickle in periods of prolonged dry weather.
The Powell Expedition named the a canyon on the Green River in the U.S. state of Colorado the Gates of Lodore after this poem.
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